Little Grant

I wanted to write a post about Grant. I love this little boy more everyday. He is such a wonderful boy!! He is almost 17 months old now. I can hardly believe that he is getting so big! I held a 7 week old baby today and was amazed at how long ago that seemed for Grant!

Here I am holding my Grant:

Want a cracker?

Here's another shot of my grown-up boy:


Here are some of the things that make me love this little man so much:

His favorite day of the week is Thursday. Why? It's garbage day, of course!! This little guy LOVES to see the garbage truck! We hold him up so he can look out the kitchen window and watch the truck do its thing. We live on the back curve of a cul de sac so he gets to watch the truck get all the cans around the circle. I never knew just how sensitive he is to the noise of the garbage truck coming until this week. We happened to be giving baths on Thursday morning. So, we were in the middle of the house with the door shut, water splashing and Grant heard that garbage truck!!! We quickly wrapped him in a towel and rushed him out to watch that truck! He was overjoyed. What a funny kid!

So, Grant is definitely a boy; he loves trucks, cars, balls, tractors- all that boy stuff. But, he is also the younger brother of 2 sisters, who are definitely girls. So, here is what I saw him doing this week:
Thanks again for the stroller, mom! 3 Years later and we are still using it all the time (all three of the kids)! Glad you chose green and not pink!

Grant loves books. He is taking after his sisters in this regard. Here is a video of what he was doing the other night. What intrigues me is that he looks at every book upside down. What a funny guy!



Emma loves to read him books, too. Here are a couple of shots of Emma and Grant together enjoying books:
At bedtime, Grant loves to give everyone kisses. After we brush his teeth, we tell him to go give the sisters kisses. He runs out of the bathroom making kissy noises. It makes my night!

Of course, Grant also has his more difficult moments. We thought it was a stage: throwing his food over the edge of his highchair tray. He is STILL doing it. Chucks the sippy cups off, chucks the food. Luckily, he doesn't generally throw full plates or bowls over the edge. It really makes you wonder why every house and apartment we live in has carpeting in the dining area!!

He also does some pretty cute things in that Highchair, too. Here he is playing peek-a-boo and making the sounds I love to hear:



Another habit that lets me know he is a boy is how he is hungry all the time! We finish breakfast and he searches for the cereal boxes to get more to eat. He eats both morning and afternoon snacks with gusto and still starts whining and crying at 11:20 and 4:20 because he can't wait until noon and 5 for lunch and dinner. And all you moms out there know how fun it is to try and make dinner with a whining/screaming child hanging on your leg! My mom always tells me I need to do my dinner prep earlier. Why oh why can't I seem to be able to do that! Probably because I am cleaning up the breakfast mess and making lunch and changing diapers and mediating sisterly fights and doing dishes and reading stories and cleaning up messes and . . . .

Lookin' Good!

Kenneth's brother-in-law shared something with us that his father (who is a bald man) says. .

"God made a few people with perfect heads. . .He gave hair to the rest."

I must say, Kenneth does have a nice looking head. We became more acquainted with it last night. . .

Yesterday morning, Kenneth decided to cut down on the mess hair loss was causing and just have me cut it off. So, I took the clippers to it. I think that is the best thing we could have done for the kids as well. Instead of it being such a shock- they were there to witness it happening. Grant kind of stood close by and whimpered as he watched- not exactly sure what was going on. He took about an hour to warm up to Kenneth after that, but no problems now. The girls quickly got used to Dad's new look.

Last night we got in bed and Kenneth realized the stubble left behind by the clippers was quite uncomfortable to sleep on, so we got back out of bed and 45 minutes, a few wipes of shaving cream and a razor later, Kenneth had a beautiful, bald head- "just like the prophets", according to Emma. He slept well.

Today was the 2nd round of Chemo. The morning was interesting. We got here to the office and the doctor realized Kenneth did not have all the information from the blood testing that they needed in order to get the chemo started. (They have to be sure his blood levels are high enough to proceed) So, they sent us to a lab about 4 miles away. They told us it would take 4 hours to get the results to the doctor!! Well, that wouldn't work!!! Especially since the doctor told us to give ourselves 8 hours for the chemo today. So, the first lab sent us to the main lab where they actually process the results. They got the results to the doctor in just 45 minutes. When all was said and done it was 11 am before the nurses were able to start Kenneth. Luckily, things went pretty smoothly today and we actually finished by 4 pm! Kenneth had a small problem with the initial needle prick- he had to lie back and his blood pressure dropped a little- but, other than that, he did great. He didn't even take a nap today!

We are very thankful for the women from church who organized the babysitting, watched our children, and brought us dinner. What a comfort it has been not to have to worry about the children and to be able to be with Kenneth.

I am not sure when Kenneth is going to be up to having his handsome face posted on the blog. The hair loss experience hasn't been too bad, but it's not a cup of tea, either. Mostly, it is a stark reminder that this is all real. The last three weeks when Kenneth has been feeling so good, it was easy to feel like life was normal again. The hair loss brought some of those tough feelings back to the surface.

But, all in all, we have been so thankful for how well Kenneth is doing. 2 down 4 to go! We feel very hopeful that all will be well in the end.

Now you see it, soon you won't

It has begun, folks. The beginning of the end. About a week ago, Kenneth noticed that his facial hair had mostly stopped growing. So, we figured the hair on his head was next. Two days ago, we started noticing Kenneth's hair around the house. Just a hair here and a hair there, you know. Not much. But, if you pull at a couple of hairs on his head they come right out. Kenneth was secretly hoping that the hair loss part of all this wouldn't actually happen to him- that he had some sort of super sonic hair to withstand the effects of the chemicals. Every night when we go to bed, we wonder if we will wake up to his hair completely gone, but it hasn't happened yet. Let's just say, I'm not the only one who has to clean out the drain in the shower nowadays! So far, you can't tell by looking at him that he is losing his hair.

We warned the girls weeks ago about Kenneth losing his hair. We have also told them that it is starting to happen. In Emma's lunch time prayer yesterday, she prayed that they wouldn't be afraid of Daddy with no hair. The good thing is, children are so accepting and loving and will adjust quickly to Dad's new look.

Speaking of new looks, the rest of us all got haircuts yesterday and today. I feel so much better with my hair cut!! It had been way too long and my hair was very unhealthy. I actually got some layers this time.
Here I am after my haircut. Yes, we still have Christmas decorations up. We haven't gotten around to taking them down, plus, we don't have enough lamps/lights in our house, so we enjoy having the trees with lights up!
I finally, after over 4 1/2 years, cut Emma's hair for the first time and she cried. . .because she wanted MORE cut off! From the longest part in the back I cut about 5-6 inches off. She said she wanted her hair to look just like my new haircut. What a sweetie! I also trimmed Arianna's hair and Kenneth cut Grant's hair this morning as well.

As a general update on how Kenneth is doing: he's great! In fact, he is doing so well, that he started working part-time from home this week. Only 15 hours, but really that is enough under our circumstances. (You know, 3 small children who can be very noisy and busy and always want to be next to their Dad!) He'll keep it up as long as he can. His appetite is really up, so he is trying to eat whenever he feels like it to counterbalance the loss of appetite to come again with the chemo.

The next chemo date is the 18th of January- next Tuesday. We have a wonderful friend who is so great to organize the babysitting for us so that I can be with Kenneth. It is very comforting to him to be able to have me there with him. The Doctor said to expect 8 hours this time.

We feel so thankful for all of you who are offering such great support and prayers for us right now. We are grateful for you!

Family Portraits

Kenneth and I were talking last night and happen to remember that our Portrait Club Membership at JC Penney expires this month. Then we thought we might not have too many more days until Kenneth looses his hair. So, we went to have pictures taken today!! They went pretty well, I thought. The kids did better than they have at times in the past. It was pretty smooth. Luckily, this studio has a t.v. and the girls were kept occupied with Dora while we looked at the pictures. Of course, bribbing them with fruit snacks also seems to work wonders!

It is also Arianna's Birthday at the end of this month, so she has some 3 year old shots in there, too. Emma was trying to encourage Arianna (who can be a little difficult to get to cooperate) and so we got some unplanned ones with Emma with Arianna and Emma alone with the white background. I love the one of the 2 girls together; you can see really well how different they are. It amazes me that people inquire at least 3 or 4 times a week as to whether they are twins!

Thought we would share the link to the JC Penney website for you all to see:

https://viewimages.jcpportraits.com/sharealbum/sharealbumlist?rndId=AAMJBANBXV9bVw==&uId=AAAHCAhOXg==

Recent Joys

Kids say and do the darndest things, don't they?! Here are some of the latest joys that have brought smiles to our faces:

1. If this doesn't bring a smile to your face, I don't know what would!
   
   


2. Animals in bed: I bet many kids are like this, not just mine, but lately the stuffed animals in our girls' beds have gotten out of control. We used to try to limit the number they could have in bed with them. We started with 2, then we let them have a couple more, now, it's a battle I don't choose to fight. They just have to have them all situated when it's time for bed. It's not just the number of animals in bed that cracks us up. Lately, the girls have been separating the animals on either side of themselves according to sex: boys on one side, girls on the other. It is funny to see which animals make which side. Arianna chided me for putting a girl on the boy's side last night. A couple of times, Emma nearly flipped out when one of her animals did not have an animal to hug goodnight. What's next?!
3. At dinner tonight Arianna said, "I love Daddy because he is so cozy". Emma added, "Yeah, he is so nice to lie on!" They sure are loving having their Daddy around so much!
4. One of the greatest joys: having a little one fall asleep in your arms.
5. So, this one is sarcastic. Arianna actually went through FIVE pair of pants in one day yesterday!!! Yes, five. Joy. It all started at breakfast. She spilled her milk all over. Then she had a dirty diaper which got on her pants, then she was riding her tricycle in the backyard and got mud all over her pants and then pooped out again!!!! I know what you are thinking- isn't that girl almost 3 years old? Why is she still in diapers? We ask the same thing daily. . .
6. Emma's new hobby: Emma has been quite diligent lately about writing. It started that she would just write words and phrases she saw around her. Then she started taking books and copying the titles. Then she started writing ALL the words she sees in the books- starting at the front cover. It is really adorable. Maybe it's time for some lined paper!

This was one of the first papers she wrote. She was in our office and wrote all kinds of random things she saw on our desks and around the room. I had a recipe on my desk for Roasted Asparagus Lasagne. It cracks me up that she wrote: "Prep: 20 min bake 45 + standing". My favorite thing that she wrote is: "Welcome to a better banking experience". What a funny girl!


Above are some book titles she has copied.

More book titles.

This one I had to pull out of the garbage to take a picture. You can see the title and author of the book at the top and then she started to copy all the words. I am not sure what happened, but she sure was writing to fit the story!!! She must have thought it was a mess herself since she crumpled it up and threw it away.

A wonderful Christmas with the Dawes Family

Figured I would start with my favorite picture of the bunch today. I sure love these kids and my sweet husband! Here we are on Christmas Eve. We feel so grateful to be together as a family!

Kenneth's sister, Karen and her family came out for Christmas. We were grateful that Kenneth was feeling a little better by the time they got here- with the fluid off his lungs. They arrived Friday afternoon (Christmas Eve) and left on New Year's Eve. We had a wonderful Christmas together. It was a little crazy at times with 8 children in our little home, but we are SO glad they were able to come. Karen and Allen took very good care of us- helping around the house, doing dishes, helping with meals and watching the kids. We were especially grateful they were here on Monday the 27th to watch the kids while we were gone ALL DAY LONG for the first round of Chemotherapy. It was nice that the kids were with family in their own home. Our kids loved playing with their cousins. Many of the days, Karen stayed here at home with us, while Allen took their 3 older children sightseeing. We didn't want them going stir-crazy stuck in the house. The week flew by and it was sad to say goodbye. Here are the pictures of the wonderful week with the Dawes Family:

Grant loved Uncle Al! Quite often he would come right up to Allen and want to sit on his lap. Here he is pointing out all the parts of his face.

Watch your eye, Al!

Christmas morning- Karen, Tyler, and Joslynn opening stockings

The girls playing with the loot from their stockings- Emma's first set of markers!! ALL the girls were excited about them!

Daddy and the kids Christmas morning

All the cousins except Joslynn

Opening gifts Christmas morning- Tyler, Allen, Karen, Grant and Joslynn

Pillowcases from Grandma Pilz. Grant laid them right down and. . .

Got comfortable!

Arianna loving Daddy. The kids are having so much fun opening presents.

Our Christmas Day afternoon activity: Making gingerbread houses.

Evening stories.

These little rascals. In the morning they just can't wait til breakfast is ready. Both Grant and Arianna grabbed a bag of cereal and hid around on the other side of the refrigerator.

Grant joined in on the dress-up parade one morning.

Here is a video of these crazy kids and our full house:


One more video for fun! Here are the kids playing on the back patio. Emma is riding her new bike Santa brought for Christmas. The last bike she earned just a little while ago was really too small for her. She still needs to grow into this one, but is loving it!! We are thankful for such a nice back patio and large yard. It's a fun video except for Emma's little outburst at the end.




Photo shoot of the kids right before the Dawes family drove away. It was such a beautiful day! Can you see Ashley in a short sleeve shirt!!! This was December 31st!

The whole gang minus Allen right before they left. Thanks for coming!! We love you!

Doing great!

First of all, Happy New Year to all of you out there! We spent a quiet evening at home last night. We had the kids in bed by 7 and us in bed by 10:30. At this stage in my life I feel no need to stay up to officially ring in the New Year. Grant was up at 6:15 am. Enough said.

I guess I didn't make it clear before, but the Chemo happens every 3 weeks. We were told that the first week after treatment would be pretty rough, the second week Kenneth would be tired from the first week and the third week would be pretty good. So, we had envisioned him lying flat in bed the first week. So, to have him feeling as good as he does has been a wonderful blessing! We are definitely grateful for every day that he feels good. Part of his discomfort leading up to the first day of Chemo was the anticipation of what was to come. He practically made himself sick thinking of how he could/would react and how bad it all could be. When he completed that first day of injections, he was so amazed at how well he felt that a huge weight was lifted off his mind and he felt better just walking out of the doctors office! His cough has been much alleviated, which is a blessing and he has no pain to speak of.

He is having trouble sitting on our hard dining room chairs, however. Let's just say there is a lot less cushion on his end than there used to be!! His sister was quite surprised at how thin he was when she saw him this week. I guess for me it has happened more gradually. Since last year this time he has lost about 30 pounds. Part of that was him exercising and eating less the beginning of 2010, but most of the weight loss has happened in the last couple of months. NO more love handles on this guy!

One of the side effects of the medicines is that food tastes different. Plain water is very difficult to drink, so Kenneth is trying out all kinds of things to get around it- Propel, lemon water, Crystal light, etc. Sugar is not good for cancer- the cells feed off glucose, so we are trying to stay away from that. His appetite has been much less than normal; sometimes he has to make himself eat. One of the nurses said he might have to think of food as medicine for a while- to eat even when he doesn't feel like it to keep his strength up.

Kenneth is definitely more tired than normal- sleeping 10 hours or so at night (sometimes restlessly) and taking at least one nap a day. Arianna has already gotten used to having Daddy home everyday and is napping with him in the recliner every afternoon. She loves it!! (So does Daddy!)

Many of you may be wondering about hair loss. Yes, most likely that is going to happen. They say it usually happens between 2 and 4 weeks after the first treatment. So, Kenneth has a week or 2 more with hair. We've tried to warn the kids about it so they are not too scared when it happens. I worry more about Kenneth's morale at that point than anything.

Emma said this morning, "I bet Daddy's work workers miss him". What a sweet lady. At lunch time Arianna said, "Dad, I want your neck to be better. . so I can go on your head!" (She must have heard us talking about the growths that are in his neck) They know Dad is sick and they know something is different. One thing is for sure, they are loving having Dad around all the time!!! We are really going to get used to this!! In the midst of all the ugliness of this disease, what a blessing to be able to spend so much time with Kenneth after so long of him being so busy and away from us so much.

With tomorrow being Fast Sunday again, we thank those of you who are fasting on Kenneth's behalf. We really appreciate all of your encouraging emails and prayers.

Arianna napping with Dad

The kids watching a movie with Dad and loving it!

Emma and Dad looking at the computer

Snuggle time!


Playing a game


Arianna napping with Dad again just today!